Aroop Sanyal

Product and Brand Management

1501074

SweetWater Case Analysis

Many time there are various products available in the market but rarely
are any of those products an optimal solution to what the customer
desires. The SweetWater case is similar to that situation. In the case of
outdoor recreationalists, while there are several products in the market
that can be used to clean outdoor water, the all have certain flaws, which
makes them difficult to use. When faced by this problem himself Sandy
Platter decided to take matter into his own hands by leveraging his vast
experience in the product development field. The devices at hand were
difficult to hold, getting clogged and did not serve the purpose of filtering
water for everyone. It took longer time than expected to get the water
filtered. The design of the filter was another problem which made Platter
to rethink on the problem.
The Portable water filter market is estimated to be of $ 10 million, with
only two models dominating the market. First need, which had major
problems with their marketing strategies and their price to value. The
other product which ran the problem on the usability and functionality was
not serving the purpose to the users. The leading customers being well
educated young enthusiasts needed something that can generate some
value. This perception was understood by Platter who had 30 patents
under his cap and responsible for generating more than $2 billion revenue
for several companies.
After brainstorming with the problem on the usage of filters on
recreational areas with Juan Rodriguez, Platter came with an idea of
redesigning the product, forming a team and bringing the analysis on the
table. Here are the points which came up in his analysis.
1. The ergonomics problem has to be solved by changing the design of
the pump. This can be done by implementing air-filtration
technology to liquid.
2. The material of the redesigned product has to be durable unlike the
existing products in the market.
3. Removing impurities by not affecting the taste and maintaining the
price to value ratio.

The above mentioned analysis shows the creativity in the new prototype
thought to make the product available for this target segment. However,
the challenge the new prototype might face would be to wipe those
pathogens and viruses with the size less than 0.5 microns. Other
challenge would be the feasibility of the concept implementation and time
challenge to build the prototype. Though we have an outdoor market
segment worth $875 million and the target audience (young enthusiasts)

Aroop Sanyal

Product and Brand Management

1501074

in the analysis, there are many things that need to be researched to make
this product viable. The product has to be developed with the light-weight
material unlike the previous products which are live. This can happen by
performing the gap analysis and identifying the parts which are
heavyweight and can be replaced by lightweight without compromising
the quality. Only then can a product give enough value to the customer at
a price which is acceptable to the majority of them